NEW AFGHAN PRESIDENT SWORN IN

ByReutersJanuary 4, 1993

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
— Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, elected last week by a controversial assembly, was sworn in Jan. 2 for a two-year term and appealed to his opponents to back him.

The official Kabul Radio said that the Hal-o-Aqad assembly that elected Mr. Rabbani had also approved the creation of a parliament, set up an army, and ordered television and radio to conform to Islamic principles.

Rabbani seemed to have secured the backing of more groups over the past few days, including that of a powerful militia commander, Abdul Rashid Dostum. But the main Hezb-i-Islami party of radical mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has shown no sign of compromise.